American photographer Ansel Adams (1902–1984) possessed a unique sensitivity to the power of light. This gift allowed him to reveal both the delicate details and the vast beauty of the natural environment. He is widely recognized for the superb aesthetic and technical qualities of his photographs and for the central role he played in the acceptance of photography as fine art.

Edwin H. Land, Adams’ contemporary, was a brilliant young scientist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who pioneered the invention of instant film and cameras in the late 1940s. In 1948 Land invited Adams to the Polaroid factory to experience firsthand the new technology. After that first visit, Adams wrote to Land: “I look forward to trying the camera out . . . I am tremendously excited about the actual use in the field and studio. I think it promises to be one of the greatest steps in the development of photography. I only hope it will not be presented as a curiosity. I think the first presentation should include work by top photographers and show a broad range of application.”

As a consultant to Polaroid Corporation, Ansel Adams became close fiends with Edwin Land, and the two—the artist and the inventor—exchanged ideas and began a deep friendship that inspired each other to explore new directions in their respective fields. This long-term collaboration resulted in Adams and Land going on many expeditions together to test film and equipment.

Ansel Adams & Edwin Land: Art, Science, and Invention features pristine, one-of-a-kind black-and-white Polaroid prints made by Adams, lively correspondence between Adams and Land, humorous postcards, and rare examples of Adams’ early commercial work. The exhibition also presents more than 80 prints, including vintage enlargements of Adams’ famed images Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941), and Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park (1960), as well as five photomurals of the American landscape. In all, the works in this show demonstrate the uncommon beauty that can occur through the conjunction of science and art.